Shades of Gray
by red champagne
Summary: The world isn't black and white, Sakura. Just because you have a pretty forehead protecter, you're the hero? Give me a break. oneshot deisaku


**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._**

She would not let him take Naruto! With a determined gleam in her eye, she raised her kunai once more and took a defensive position.

"Don't be stupid, yeah," the blond haired man said. "You're practically out of chakra and you've got a broken wrist, yeah."

"Shut up!" Sakura spat, though she knew his words were true.

Deidara smirked at her resolve to protect her unconscious friend, even if it meant her death. "You know…" he trailed off.

Suddenly, Sakura was pinned to a tree with Deidara inches from her face. "I like a girl with _fire_."

He leaned in, breathing lightly on her lips. Their lips collided, and Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

Slowly, Sakura could feel her eyes drifting closed, her mind succumbing to the kiss. Distantly, she heard a groan coming from the spiky haired blond. Her eyes jolted open. What was she _doing_? He was the enemy! You can't go around kissing the enemy!

Though Naruto _was _unconscious, and he _was_ a pretty good kisser… No! No! No!

Roughly, she bit his lip and pushed him off, wincing as her wrist protested painfully.

Deidara didn't fight her. He took a few steps back, licking his blood of his lips, his eyes darkened with lust. "Mmm…" he murmured. "You taste pretty good, yeah."

Sakura felt her cheeks warm up, hoping he didn't notice.

No such luck. The gorgeous blond smirked, and Sakura knew that there was no way he missed the flush in her cheeks.

"Sasuke-kun!" she gasped suddenly.

Swearing, Deidara's eyes narrowed as he spun around. "That damn Uchiha bastard!"

Sakura grabbed Naruto and bolted. She didn't want to be anywhere near the blond when he figured out that the only thing behind was air and trees.

Behind her, she heard a strange sound. Was he… _laughing_?

* * *

"No effing way," Ino said, leaning forward and nearly knocking over her forgotten ice cream sundae.

"I'm not kidding," Sakura said quietly, glancing around to see if anyone had heard her loud friend. "The bastard stole my first kiss."

"Well, congrats, Forehead. 'Bout time."

Ino, at age sixteen, had plenty of experience in the area of romance. Sakura, on the other hand, was stubbornly waiting for "the right guy". i.e. Sasuke.

"Shut up, Pig."

"But he was good, wasn't he?" The blond smirked. "Bad boys always are. If he's that good with the mouth on his face, imagine what he could do with his _other_ mouths." She playfully licked off some ice cream from her spoon and grinned, eyebrows raised salaciously.

"Ino!" Sakura gasped in horror, partly from the perverse suggestion from her best friend and partly from the little shock running along her spine.

She shrugged. "I'm just saying."

"Whatever. I hope I never see him again, the jerk."

"Suuuure."

"What? I'm totally serious."

"I know. I'm agreeing with you."

"Shut up, Pig."

"Sure, sure."

"…"

"Hmmm…"

"Can I have some of your sundae?"

"Of course."

"Would you stop it with the tongue thing!"

* * *

They met again in the same forest. Sakura stumbled blindly through the underbrush, her stringy, dirt matted hair swaying in front of her face. Her eyes were wide, unseeing, glazed over. There were nicks and cuts, some light, others would probably scar. Her gloves were torn to shreds. There was a deep laceration stretching from her rib to her hip bone. One thought rang clear through the emptiness of her mind.

Naruto was dead.

Naruto was dead.

Naruto was _dead_.

Killed by Itachi Uchiha.

She stumbled over a tree root, hands reacting too slow to break her fall. She braced herself.

She didn't hit the ground.

There was a strong arm wrapped around her waist, holding her inches from the groun.

"You should be more careful, yeah."

Something snapped. She ripped his arm from around her. "Shut up!" Before she knew what she was doing, her hand flew through the air. The slap echoed through the empty forest. Leaves rustled.

Distantly, she knew that he could have dodged it, or caught her hand before it met his cheek.

"Don't touch me! You're evil! You are an evil, vile, terrible person that kills and kills and kills!" she screamed, the words ripping through her throat. Tears sprung into her eyes.

"Sakura," he murmured, hands held out in a placating gesture, taking a careful step toward her. She took a step back.

"It's people like you who are the problem in this world! You are everything wrong with this place, the reason that everyone I love is dead!"

"Sakura," he repeated, more forceful this time.

"No! Shut up! Don't say my name. _Never_ say my name, you bastard!"

He took another step. She didn't move, tears rolling freely down her face. Another step. Then another. Swiftly, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He felt something inside her break. She sobbed, half-heartedly beating his chest with her weak, bloody fists.

"Sakura. Sakura, Sakura, Sakura."

"No… Naruto… Sasuke… Ino…"

"_Sakura_."

"You kill people."

"So do you."

"What I do is–"

"Different?" He scoffed bitterly. "How? You kill people because your Hokage says so. To make a little money, make some allegiences, yeah. The only difference is, because it's for your city, your government, _you're allowed to_, yeah. It's _right_, it's _noble_. You're _protecting your people_, by killing other people's sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts. And for what, yeah? So your government can stay stable, so they can keeping killing? You have a pretty forehead protector, and suddenly, you're the fucking good guy."

She fell silent.

"The world isn't black and white, Sakura. It's letting that first bit of darkness into your white, and then having the courage to realize that the world is made up of nothing but shades of gray."

She still said nothing. Looking up into his eyes, she saw blue. She saw black, white, gray, Naruto, Ino, Sasuke, and every damn color in the world.

She tangled her hands in his hair, wrapped her legs around his waist, and kissed him. She kissed him hard, letting everything flow out of her, and into him.

She closed her eyes, and, for the first time, let the darkness in.

* * *

**I found the first half of this oneshot and thought, "Why didn't I finish this?" It started with just the quote about shades of gray. And it was a little less serious. I hate killing off Ino. Makes me so sad. So... Review, please!**

**- Red**


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